Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Kenneth Kam is a guitarist and lutenist based in Rochester, New York. He is currently on the music faculty at the Nazareth University and the State University of New York Brockport. Dr. Kam serves as a contributing editor to Soundboard, the quarterly journal published by the Guitar Foundation of America in the United States. He is also the guitar artistic director of the International Fringe Association, where he directs and organizes the classical guitar category competition.
As an active performer, Dr. Kam has been heard in Beijing, Malaysia, Germany, Canada, Japan, Austria, Czech Republic and Mexico. In 2018, Omar Rojas wrote a solo guitar piece, “KAM(?)”, and a piece for guitar and percussion, “OME”, both dedicated to Dr. Kam. In 2019, Dr. Kam premiered “Quinquagenary Horizon” and "Variation of ambush from ten sides", written by Daniel Adams and Barry Wan for him respectively. In 2021, Dr. Kam won the Lute Scholarship for a full ride to the Lute Society of America’s 2021 Lute Festival. In 2022, Dr. Kam was invited to give a masterclass and two performances at the Eastern Kentucky University. From 2023 to 2025, Dr. Kam served on the jury panel of the Appalachian State University GuitarFest in Boone, North Carolina. In 2025, Dr. Kam was featured as an artist to give a performance and teach masterclasses at the Appalachian State University GuitarFest in Boone, North Carolina.
As a researcher, Dr. Kam has presented lectures at universities in U.S. and Canada, the 3rd Altamira Hong Kong International Guitar Symposium at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong International Guitar Forum, College Music Society and Guitar Foundation of America. His William Walton, Miguel Llobet and Malcolm Arnold research have been published by the Malcolm Arnold Society, Soundboard and Gendai Guitar, a classical guitar specialized monthly magazine in Japan since 1967.
As an educator, Dr. Kam’s students achieved outstanding accomplishments at music events and competitions such as the Long Island Guitar Festival National High School Competition, Southern Guitar Festival & Competition, Connecticut Guitar Competition, Appalachian State University GuitarFest Competition, Eastman Community Music School Guitar Competition, River Campus Concerto Competition at the University of Rochester and New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Solo Festival. Dr. Kam performs with the Hong Kong Guitar Ensemble and Dr. Kam holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Guitar Performance and Literature and a master’s degree in early music (emphasis in historical plucked instruments) from the Eastman School of Music specializing in guitar and historical plucked instruments, including the Renaissance lute, the theorbo and the Baroque guitar. Dr. Kam is the music director of the guitar ensemble and the orchestra at SUNY Brockport. He is an Altamira Guitars artist.
For more information, please visit kennethkam.wordpress.com.
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